Very worried about my ds's weight

[BarbieLovesKen]

I know I'm being vague as I don't gave a weight to give you, I need to get a battary for my scales today and am going to try weigh him tonight and work out where he lands on the child bmi.

He turned 18 months yesterday and is terribly skinny - I suspect he's definitely under weight. We find it si difficult to get any pants to fit him - any size 12 - 18 months end up around his ankles. We've tried different brands as I know sizes vary, elasticated waists (we pull them as tight as possible but they are still much too big and fall down), belts...

9-12 month pants will fit him around the waist but are much, much too short in the leg and look ridiculous - so he spends most of his time in little 9-12 shorts at home. Trying to find something to wear when going out is a nightmare (and winter is coming..)

I can count his little ribs without any effort and his spine sticks out. When he lies down his hip bones are really prominent.

Funnily enough, he never stops eating (in contrast to his 6 year old sister who, like me, only has to look at food and will gain weight). Sorry so long but for instance, yesterday he had: (typical day)

Breakfast: 1 weetabix with one chopped up banana and full fat milk. Small glass of apple juice.

Still hungry 30 mins later so had 1 slice of wholemeal toast and a boiled egg (butter on toast)

Mid morning (after nap): bowl of chopped fruit: 5 strawberries, half an apple, 5 grapes.

Dinner: 2 scoops of mashed potato, butternut squash, brocolli, sweetcorn, 3 fish fingers. Glass of full fat milk. For desert he has a peach yogurt with seeds mixed through.

Goes to his granny's who gives him 2
chocolate chip cookies.

Tea: 1 slice of brown soda bread toasted, 4 heaped tablespoons of baked beans. Grated (full fat) cheese on top, 2 slices ham.

Before bed: bottle of full fat milk.

Is something wring here? I can't understand how he eats so much and remains so tiny. Is thus excessive? My cm often laughs and says "I think there's something wrong with x, he only had 2 dinners today"

Sorry so long. Any advice/ experiences would be greatly appreciated. Am thinking of taking him to the docs but dh thinks I'm being silly as he is very healthy and energetic etc, dh reckons its just his make up...

Sorry for so many typos - on phone and keys close together. Also he turned 19 months yesterday and had two weetabix for breakfast

My ds2 was much as you describe. He's six now, but he was premature and as a young child he was incredibly incredibly thin. He too would eat everything you put in front of him, but he never gained weight at all. At one point the dietician we saw advised us to give him a spoonful of sugar in whatever food he was having so he would gain weight. Obviously we didn't do this, but when he was about three he started to become taller and as he did so he became more inproportion and put on weight - not a lot, but enough so that you'd notice.

He's still very thin now, and he's tall too, i think it's just how he's made up.

I would say, as long as your ds is eating well, and seems healthy and well in himself i wouldn't be too concerned.

Thank you so much for your reply - it's reassuring to hear others who've experienced the same (and now have healthy dc!)

I just said yesterday that I'd understand if he was premature but he was 1 day "overdue" and was 8lbs 4ounces at birth with no feeding issues whatsoever from day one

Someone suggested that he may have worms??!! Is that possible?

What are you and his dad like?? and what were you both like at his age??

That's the thing - we're both quite big, I've just had another dd so am carrying (a lot of) baby weight but normally in a good size 12 and a largish built. I'm 5 foot 8.

Dh is a massive man (as is all his side of his family) - he's 6foot 3 and about 3 stone overweight. He has a very large build even without the weight - he was a very, very overweight child (shockingly so), I was "normal"

My dd1 has a large build - she will be 6 in October but wears age 8 clothes. They eat the same things but ds eats a lot more than her.

Hiya
Sounds very like my dd1. She was born 8lb 2 but her weight gain from birth was very slow. I stressed a lot about it in the beginning but when she went on solids and I saw how much she was eating I worried less. Like your son she has a very big appetite and eats great loves fruit veg etc very little junk. She is also a very very active little girl so i guess she burns it off. When she was about 20months we went to the States and she got ill nothing major but I brought her to a paed there to check her over paed weighed her and was shocked at her weight I think she was only about 19lbs.
She is now 4 and still thin slightly above average height wise but I wouldn't call her tall. She is also a very healthy little girl. I have a dd2 now who is the opposite is 17 months chubby but does not eat as much as dd1 did at this age but probably weighs twice as much as her lol

I would advise that you get his weight checked with a HV and get them to track it over a few months so you can just make sure that he is gaining (doesn't matter how slowly) and to make sure he isn't for some reason losing weight. Also if he is maintaining his curve on the percentiles he is most lilely fine. My dd1 has been on the 25th percentile since she was 2 months old.
Also on the clothes issue I know they are pricier but Next do adjustable waist trousers which I have to use for my dd cos like your ds everything falls off her she has no waist or bum, lucky girl if only I was the same!!!

I'd want to rule out any health issues - worms, etc - so if it was me I'd make an appointment with the GP (HVs are useless IME).

But if he gets a clean bill of health, he eats as well as you say, and is a happy, energetic little boy I really wouldn't worry. My son, who's nearly 4, is a skinny kid - always has been. He eats well and is very lively (so I'm sure just burns off what he eats), and is currently wearing a t-shirt for age 18 months - 2 years. His little brother, by comparison, is 3 mos old and wearing size 6-12 months! Some kids are skinny, although it doesn't mean he'll always be that way. My DH was a skinny kid and he's a far from skinny adult!

DS is 21 months and only just moving into 12 - 18 clothes, trousers need to have adjustable waists on the tightest fitting to come close to fitting, like your DS I can easily count ribs.

He is generally healthy (has asthma but doesnt effect his weight gain) and eats well but is just naturally slim at the moment.

He is regularly weighed at the hospital and they have never shown any concern about it. (he is about 23lb)

If your worried though it will do no harm you taking him to be checked.

I think its much easier to get worried about a DCs weight when you have another heavier DC IYSWIM.

My DD was 7.4lbs but by the time she was weaned she was well into 90th centile. DS birthweight was 8.9lbs and by the time he was 4 weeks old he had lost a stack of weight, and has been somewhere around the 10 - 20th centile ever since (he is 2.5yo).

I think he looks SOOOOO skinny. I worry his ribs stick out, his limbs are very slim etc etc. I couldn't even dream of getting him trousers without adjustable waists. He still wears some clothes for 12- 18m, and most of his clothes are 18-24m (DD is just 5 and has been wearing 6-7yo clothes for the past 6m).

I have finally come to terms with the fact that DS is just a skinny kid, and I can't compare him to my well-covered DD! He is nowhere near the size she was at his age, but they are just different builds.